November 2012 Book Selection
Special Author Event Thursday Evening
Join us to discuss our November book choice,
Lost Kingdom: Hawaii’s Last Queen, the Sugar Kings and America’s
First Imperial Adventure
with the author, Julia Flynn Siler
The Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group will
meet Thursday, November 8th at 7 p.m. in the meeting room of
the Fairfax Library to discuss our November book: Lost Kingdom: Hawaii’s Last Queen, the
Sugar Kings and America’s First Imperial Adventure by Julia Flynn Siler.
Discussion questions
are below.
Here are some links
for additional background and information:
NY Times Article: Mark Twain’s Hawaii
Some documents from
the National Archives: Petition Against
Annexation, 1898 Letter of
Protest by Queen Lili’uokalani, 1903 Joint Resolution
regarding Hawaii Statehood
Coming up, we have the
following titles to look forward to reading:
Thanks for reading
with us. I look forward to seeing you at the Fairfax Library.
Beth Bailey-Gates
Friends of the Fairfax
Library
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Lost Kingdom: Hawaii’s Last Queen by Julia Flynn Siler
1. Whose story is Lost Kingdom and who should
be telling it? Do you think Julia Flynn Siler, a haole or white foreigner to
the islands, does a good job of showing all sides of this story about
nineteenth century Hawaii? Do you think it is an important story?
2. Is there a hero/heroine or
villain/villainess in this story?
3. How do you feel about Lili'u? Could she
have done anything to alter the course of historical events? Should she have?
Do you consider her a tragic figure?
4. Was King David Kalakaua a good sovereign
for Hawaii? How responsible was he for the course of events?
5. How do you feel about the way the United
States handled the annexation of Hawaii? Grover Cleveland claimed "Hawaii
is ours...as I contemplate the means used to complete the outrage, I am ashamed
of the whole affair." Do you agree/ disagree with him?
6. How did the Hawaiians handled the
annexation of Hawaii? Did you get a good sense from the book as to how and why
they behaved as they did?
7. There
have been strong ties between San Francisco and Hawaii over the last 150 years,
but the author states in an
interview, “Many mainlanders have a very tenuous grasp of Hawaiian
history.” Were you familiar with this history of Hawaii before reading the
book?
8. How did Claus Spreckels affect the history
of Hawaii? What about Sanford Dole? Are there other characters in the book that
you feel played a pivotal role and you'd like to know more about them?
9. What surprised you about the original missionaries,
and how do you feel about their descendents? Was everyone generally
well-intentioned, or was self-interest paramount?
10. The title of this book calls the
annexation of Hawaii America’s First Imperial Adventure. Do you agree? Some
consider that the United States always had expansionist tendencies, always
looking to the west for expansion. Consider the Louisiana Purchase in 1803,
Texas annexation in 1845, the purchase of Alaska in 1867 among other
acquisitions. Was Hawaii an inevitable
acquisition?
11. What is the relevance of this history for
us today?
12. Is there any significance in the fact that
President Obama was born in Hawaii?
13. Can you imagine an alternate history for
Hawaii and the monarchy? Where would Hawaii be today if the US hadn't annexed
it? Where would the US be today without Hawaii?
14. Do you think this particular history of
Hawaii could be better told as 'historical fiction'?
